laws down. that is why we need federal legislation, comprehensive, common sense federal legislation for all of us to be safe. [applause] cities alone cannot reduce gun violence by themselves. we are doing everything we can but still losing the battle thanks to the per live ration to guns in our nation. our story is not unique. mayors everywhere are dealing with this problem. they use resources which we should be using to educate our children, create jobs and revitalize our cities. in an open letter to the president and the congress sent three days after the newtown massacre we urged immediate action and over 200 mayors signed on to that letter. we called on the president to exercise his powers through executive orders and the congress to introduce and pass legislation to make reasonable changes in our gun laws and regulations. specifically, we called on congress to one, enact legislation to ban assault weapons and other high-capacity magazines that is now being prepared by the senator. two, stre